5 Large-Cap Stocks with Insider Buying

2. U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

Market Cap as of May 19: $46.15 Billion

On May 5 U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) disclosed in a regulatory filing that its vice chairman, Jim Kelligrew, purchased 16,260 company shares at an average share price of $30.60 for a total transaction amount of roughly $0.49 million. On May 8 the company disclosed that its director, Richard McKenney, purchased 20,000 shares of the company at an average share price of $30.37 for a total transaction amount of approximately $0.60 million.

On April 20, Argus analyst Stephen Biggar revised his price target on U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) to $58 from $63 and reiterated a Buy rating on the shares.

As of May 19, U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) is valued at $46.15 billion on the open market and the stock is one of the top large-cap stocks that insiders are buying right now.

As of March 31, First Eagle Investment Management is the top investor in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) and holds a position worth $329.5 million in the company.

Madison Investments Fund made the following comment about U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) in its Q1 2023 investor letter:

“U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) shares are ensnared in the bank-run panic that began late in the quarter. Two large banks failed in early March as depositors rushed to withdraw money on concerns that the banks would suffer from liquidity problems. That’s a self-fulfilling prophecy, of course, but in the case of the two banks, it was prompted by the revelations of utter mismanagement of their securities portfolio. Bank models are, essentially, to borrow short and lend long. This sounds dangerous of course, and it would be if not for the deposit guarantee provided by the FDIC. The history of the U.S. banking system can be divided into two eras – pre-FDIC, when bank runs were fairly common, and post-FDIC, when bank runs have been close to non-existent. However, FDIC protection has its limits, and it remains incumbent on management to properly manage its assets and liabilities. The two banks in question didn’t do that. By taking down the share prices of all banks, we think investors are shooting first and asking questions later; they are not distinguishing between the strong and the weak.

U.S. Bancorp, as one of the largest and best-managed banks in the country, appears to be a net beneficiary so far of the panic among some depositors, with a pick-up in net deposit inflows in recent weeks. We don’t dismiss the probability of industry contagion – in a true nationwide panic, the big banks will suffer along with the small banks, and the well-managed ones will suffer along with the badly-managed ones. But we think the odds of that are quite small, and recent steps by federal regulators confirm that they will do everything in their power to prevent such a scenario, given the calamitous impact that it would have on our economy. We tightly manage this risk by limiting our exposure to the banking sector.”